Capacitive glass touchpads from Vitrea can be customized with any background, control any high- and low-voltage devices; Crestron, Vantage, RTI, Lutron, KNX supported.

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Tucked in the back of ISE 2013 is an Israeli company called Vitrea showing some of the classiest user interfaces I’ve ever seen.

Scratch that. I saw something very similar at Crestron yesterday and thought that was awesome. But Vitrea was first and they have more options so they get the win on this one.

The company makes VTouch capacitive touchpads that can be either etched or painted per the user’s specification. Behind the glass is a bank of LEDs – available in a variety of configurations – that are used as control points.

So what does one control? Vitrea has its own switches for high and low voltage, but it also has RS-232 and IP boxes to communicate two-way with a variety of home automation and other systems. Currently, the company has drivers for Crestron, Lutron, Vantage, RTI and KNX.

At ISE, the company is showing a doorbell application (with the homeowner’s name etched on the screen), lighting apps and two-way integration with Crestron.

The glass can sit on the wall, or Vitrea offers a back box that allows the glass to sit flush in the wall.

Julie Jacobson, recipient of the 2014 CEA TechHome Leadership Award, is co-founder of EH Publishing, producer of CE Pro, Electronic House, Commercial Integrator, Security Sales and other leading technology publications. She currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro in the areas of home automation, security, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. Julie majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, spent a year abroad at Cambridge University, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. She's a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player currently residing in Carlsbad, Calif. Email Julie at [email protected]